Lawn mower



y 17, 1934- I F. M. SEELEY' 1,966,972

LAWN MOWE R Filed May 18, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l Q5? H I|| l 7. k W 2191.

26 2? g INVENTOR 0 0? III H I! HI 6 f U D I I i ATTORNEYS July 17, 1934. v F, s Y 1,966,972

LAWN MOWER FiledMay 18. 1931 Z SheetS -Sheet 2 J2 E 4K 7 4 t E :a

1 v A v 1 y v i y 1 /5 /3 l n i /3 I I 4 INVENTOR ATTO RN EY/S' Patented July 17 1934,

mrso srArEs PATENT OFFICE 966,912 LAWN Mower.

Fayette M. Seeley, Lansing, Mich, assignor to Ideal Power Lawn Mower Company, Lansing, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application ray 1a 1931, Serial No. 538.271

12 claims. (or. se-zc) The invention relates to lawn mowers and is rear of the shaft 10 and upon which is iournalled particularly applicable to mowers for golf greens the sectional ground engaging roller 14. This and fine bent lawns. The invention has for one roller is formed in two sections which upon rof its objects the provision of an improved contation of the shaft in the direction indicated by 5 struction of power driven lawn mower. Other the arrow in Figure 6 are adapted to be driven objects are to so construct the lawn mower that therefrom in the same direction by the ratchet its motor is operatively connected to a rotatable mechanism 15 connected to the shaft at its midmember upon its frame upon movement of its dle. This ratchet mechanism is such that the handle in one direction only; to so construct the roller sections are driven'from a shaft in the one iii lawn mower that the movement of the handle in direction only and independently of each other. one direction is limited by adjustable means; to The shaft 13 is driven from the shaft 10 by provide the lawn mower with two sets of ground means of suitable gearing mounted on one of the engaging members which are so spaced that they side plates 1; This gearing, as'shown, comprises form a pocket to receive a cross bar of a carriage the pinion 10' secured upon the end of the shaft 15 for transporting the lawn mower; to provide a 10, the pinion 13 secured upon the end of the platform for the motor adjustably mounted vupon shaft 13 and the idler gears ill and 13 secured the frame to maintain the endless driving memtogether and respectively meshing with the pinoer between the motor and rotatable member ion 10' and the pinion 13'. 1' is a covering for taut; and to provide means between the frame these pinions and gears secured to theside plate 0 and the handle which automatically functions 1 and cooperating with the side plate to mount upon movement of the handle in a direction to the shaft upon which the gears 10 and 13 are make the operative connection between the mosecured.

tor and rotatable member to force the grass cut- 16 is a motor in the nature of an internal comting reel toward the ground. bustion engine which is carried upon the frame.

5 These and other objects of" the invention will This motor is adapted to drive the reel shaft 10 so become apparent from the following description, through the endless belt 1'7 which extends around taken in connection with the accompanying the sheave 18 at one end of the reel shaft and drawings. in which the sheave 19 at the outer end of the shaft 20,

Figures El and 2 are perspective views of alawn which latter is journalled in the side plate 21.

3c mower showing -an embodiment of my invention; This side plate-and the motor are mounted upon Figure 3 is a side elevation thereof; theplatform 22 above the frame of the lawn Figure 4. is a plan View of the construction mower. A suitable clutch is provided between shown in Figure 3 with certain parts broken the motor shaft and the shaft 20, and, as shown, away for the sake of clearness; this clutch is a friction clutch having driving and as Figure 5 is a top plan view showing the clutch driven clutch members 23 and 24, respectively, controlling device; p Y the former'being fixed to the motor shaft and the Figure 6 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of latter being fixed to the shaft 20. 25 is a collar Figure connected to the driven clutch member and 26 v The frame of the lawn mower comprises the is a coil spring between the side plate 21 and the 40 side plates 1 and the front and rear cross bars 2 collar and normally urging the clutch members and 3, respectively. 4 is a shaft at the front-end into frictional engagement. of the frame and extending through and secured For tightening up the endless belt 17 to mainto the lower ends of the arms 5, this shaft having tain the same taut, the platform 22 is adjustably lollrnalled 011 its d the ound engaging rollmounted upon the frame of the lawn mower so 45 ers 6. These arms 5 are vertically adjustably that the platform can be raised relative to the loo secured to the front ends of the side plates and frame. The adjustable supporting mechanism have the rearwardly extending portions 7 in comprises four sets of telescoping bars with one which is Secured the Shaft 3 p Which s J'ourset at each corner of the platform. Each set nailed the roller 9 located between the side has the channel bar 2'7 secured to and depending go plates. 10 is a shaft journalled in the side plates from the platform 22 and the flat bar 28 secured 1 in the T0118? 9 and having fi y 8- to and extending upwardly from a side plate 1 cured thereto the rotatable reel 11 which coopand telescoping within the channel bar, the laterates with the plate 12 extending between and ter being provided with the longitudinally exfixed to the side plates to cut the grass. 13 is tending slot 29 for adjustably receiving the secur- 55 another shaft journalled in the side plates in ing bolt 30 which extends through this slot and through a hole in the flat bar and is adapted to be fixedly secured in place by means of a clamping nut threaded upon the bolt. The arrangement is such that either or both of the front and rear ends of the platform may be raised.

31 is the handle having the bifurcated lower end 32. The lower ends of these bifurcations are pivotally mounted upon the bolts 30' at the rear ends of the side plates 1 and in advance of the rear cross bar 3. This handle controls the engagement of the driving and driven clutch members 23 and 24, respectively, through the following mechanism: 33 is a clutch yoke or bifurcated lever pivotally mounted upon the side plate 21 in rear of the shaft 20 and having its furcations connected to the collar 25. The rear end of this lever is provided with the set screw 34 extending transversely thereof and threaded therethrough and adapted to abut the-cam 35 which is pivotally mounted upon the side plate 21 to swing through a vertical-path. This cam is provided with the arm 36 to which is pivotally connected the lower end of the push rod 37. This push rod extends in the direction of the handle and through the bracket 38 upon the handle and is provided with the collar 39 adiustably threadedly engaging the rod and adapted to be engaged by the bracket upon upward swinging of the handle to swing the cam 35 forwardly from the position shown in Figure 2, thereby allowing the lever 33 to swing under the influence of the coil spring 26 and the driven clutch member to frictionally engage the driving clutch member. The outer end of the push rod is provided with the knob 40 adjacent the cross bar of the handle and adapted to be grasped to pull the push rod rearwardly and thereby swing the cam rearwardly and through this cam swing the lever and disconnect the driven clutch member from the driving clutch member. With this construction, it will be seen that if the clutch members are disengaged, their engaging action is controlled by upward swinging only of the handle. After their engagement the handle may swing downwardly without affecting the clutch engagement.

To assist in turning the lawn mower, the downward swinging of the handle 31 is limited so that a downward pressure upon this handle may raise the front ground engaging rollers 6 from. the

ground. To adjustably limit the downward swinging of the handle to best suit the operation of the lawn mower to operators of different heights, I have provided the eccentrics 41 upon the rear cross bar 3 and adjacent to the side plates 1 and-engageable by the furcations 32 of the handle upon downward swinging of the latter. These eccentrics are rotatably adiustable relative to the cross bar and are suitably secured in their adjusted positions as by means of the set screws 42.

To hold the rear end of the lawn mower frame from coming into contact with the ground, there are the ground engaging rollers 43 journalled upon the rear cross bar 3 laterally inside the eccentrics. These rollers are so located and their diameters are such that they cooperate with the sectional ground engaging roller 14 to form a downwardly opening pocket for receiving the cross bar 44 of a carriage for transport the lawn mower from one place to another. This carriage preferably has but two wheels and the cross bar is the shaft upon the ends of which the wheels are journalled.

14 upon upward swinging of the handle 31 to force the reel 11 toward the ground, especially when engaging the clutch members, I have provided the coil spring 45 having one end connected to the rear cross bar 3 and the other end connected to the upper end of the handle furcations. It will be seen that with this arrangement the upward swinging of the handle progressively increases the tension of the coil spring, which causes the rear end of the lawn mower frame to swing upwardly about the ground engaging roller 14, thereby moving the reel 11 toward the ground or tending to force this reel toward the ground and maintain the front rollers 6 in contact with the ground.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a lawn mower, the combination with a frame, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said frame, a motor carried by said frame and operativelyconnected to the rotatable member and a handle movably connected to said frame, of means actuated by said handle upon movement thereof in one direction only for controlling the operative connection between said rotatable member and motor, said means being free of actuation by said handle upon movement thereof in the opposite direction.

2. ma lawn mower, the combination with a frame, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said frame and operatively connected to the ground engaging member, a motor carried by said frame and a handle movably connected to said frame, of means actuatedby said handle upon movement thereof in one direction only for controlling the operative connection between said ground engaging member and motor to propel the lawn mower, said means being free of actuation by saidhandle upon movement thereof in the opposite direction.

3.In a lawn mower, the combination with a frame, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said frame, a motor carried by said frame, clutch members for operatively connecting said memher and motor and a handle pivotally connected to said frame, of a rod actuated by said handle upon swinging thereof in one direction only for "controlling the engagement of said clutch memotally connected to said frame, of a cam upon said frame, a spring for normally engaging said clutch members with each other, a lever pivoted upon said frame and controlled by said cam for control ling the engagement of said clutch members, a push rod connected to said cam and cooperating means upon said push-rod and handle engageable upon swinging of said handle in an upward direction only for rotating said cam and thereby allowing said spring to bring said clutch members into engagement with each other.

5.. Ina lawn mower, the combination with a frame, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said-frame. motor carried by said frame and a handle pivotally connected to the rear of said frame, of means actuated by said handle'upon movement thereof in one direction only for controlling the operative connection between said ground engaging member and motor, and means yieldably connecting portions of said frame and said frame and handle to tilt said frame forwardly about said ground engagingmember upon upward swinging of said handle.

, 6. In a lawn mower, the combination with a frame, a rotatable reel-upon said frame, a ro-' tatable ground engaging member upon said frame in rear of said reel, a motor carried by said frame, clutch members upon said frame for operatively connecting said reel and member-to said motor and a handle pivotally connected to' saidframe in rear of said ground engaging member, of means actuated by said handle upon upward swinging thereof for controlling the engagement of said clutch members to propel the lawn mower,

handle in rear of the pivotal connection between said frame and handle for resiliently tilting said frame forwardly about said ground engaging member upon upward swinging of, said handle.

7. In a lawn mower, the combination with a frame having a cross bar, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said frame and-a handle pivotally engageable with said handle to limit swinging thereof in one direction.

8. In a lawn mower, the combination with a frame having a cross bar at its rear end, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said frame in advance of said cross bar and a handle pivotally connected to said frame in advance of said cross bar, of'angularly adjustable eccentric means upon said cross bar engageable with said handle to limit downward, swinging thereof, and ground engaging means upon said cross bar for holding said frame from engaging the'ground upon downward swinging of said handle.

9. A lawn mower having in combination, a frame, a guiding handle movably connected to the frame, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said frame, a driving member for actuating the member aforesaid, a clutch interposed in the driving connection between thetwo aforesaid members and comprising relatively movable ground engaging and spring means connecting portions of said frame and connected to said frame, of angularly 1 adjustable eccentric means upon said cross bar.)

.of the handle in engaging member upon said frame,

clutch elements, and means operable in dependence upon movement of the guiding handle in one direction only for relatively moving said clutch elements.

10. A lawn mower having in combination, a frame, a handle movably connected to the frame, a rotatable ground engaging member upon said frame, a driving member for actuating the ground engaging member, a clutch arranged within the operative connection between the aforesaid members and comprising cooperating relatively movable clutch elements, and means operable in dependence upon movement of the handle in one direction for relatively moving the clutch elements into engagement topropel the lawn mower, said means beinginoperative to effect said clutch elements upon movement any other direction than the one specified above. 11. A lawn mower frame, a guiding handle pivotally connected to the frame for movement upwardly and downwardly relative to the a drivin member connected to the ground engaging member for rotating the latter, and 'an operative connection between the aforesaidmembers including means actuated by movement of the handle Y upwardly for establishing said connection to prolatter, a rotatable ground.

said handle to limit downward swinging movement thereof.

FAYETTE M. SEELEY. 

